


Purr In Your Pocket

by rebelmeg



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adorable Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Cat Lover Tony Stark, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Herding Cats, Pepper has the patience of Job, Pets, Tony Stark Does What He Wants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:35:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29327124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebelmeg/pseuds/rebelmeg
Summary: Tony has attempted to smuggle another forbidden item into his menagerie.  Pepper is not fooled, but darn it if her husband isn't really cute when he's doing something he shouldn't.
Relationships: Pepper Potts & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 20
Kudos: 85
Collections: Ladies of Marvel Bingo 2020, Tony Stark Bingo Mark IV





	Purr In Your Pocket

**Author's Note:**

  * For [makifa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/makifa/gifts).



> I wrote this for the Pepperony Gift Exchange run by the dailypepperony Tumblr! And my valentine for this event is.... sreppub! *Happy kazoos* I really, really hope this is something you enjoy!
> 
> And with her very gracious permission, I am also crossing off two bingo squares! One for the Tony Stark Bingo, and one for the Ladies of Marvel Bingo.
> 
> Title: Purr In Your Pocket  
> Collaborator: rebelmeg  
> Card Number: 4034  
> Squares Filled: TSB, R5 - Image of Silver Fox Tony  
> LoMB, O1 - Retirement  
> Ship: Pepperony  
> Rating: Gen  
> Major Tags: pets, Tony collects cats, Pepper is exasperated and very fond, Tony's happy retirement  
> Summary: Tony has attempted to smuggle another forbidden item into his menagerie. Pepper is not fooled, but darn it if her husband isn't really cute when he's doing something he shouldn't.  
> Word Count: 1310

“Tony Stark, that better not be a cat in your pocket.”

Freezing in place in the middle of the living room, Tony sent a hesitant glance over his shoulder at his suspicious wife. “Uh… it’s not what you think?”

Pepper’s eyes narrowed even further. “So your jacket is just meowing because that’s a feature they come with now?”

It only took him a second to start nodding fervently. “Yes. Absolutely. Yes. This is my new meowing jacket. Tomorrow I’ll wear the one that moos.”

Pepper's lips twitched in that way they did when she was trying really hard not to smile. Beaming, Tony spun around to face her, trying to be casual about putting his hands in his pockets. “Is there a particular animal sound you’d like to request? I hear koalas kinda snort like pigs, that would be fun. Like a specialty noise with a secret.”

She wasn't deterred. “I need you to turn out your pockets, dear.”

He tried to be sneaky about taking a step backwards, tipping his head to the side and blinking innocently. “No koalas, then? How about a dolphin?”

Pepper just stared at him, raising one eyebrow.

“Jaguar purring? Car or cat, you pick.”

Aaaaaand kept staring.

_Damn._

With a deep sigh, Tony took his hands out of his pockets… and brought out the kitten that he’d stashed in there. It meowed plaintively, squinting in the light as it looked around blearily.

“I knew it,” Pepper sighed, her expression exasperated and fond as she set down the book she’d clearly been intending to read before shenanigans interrupted. “Tony, we cannot possibly have another cat.”

“Sure we can! The more the merrier!”

“Eleven is not merrier! It is a circus with claws!”

“It purrs, too.”

“Tony!”

“But look at it, Pepper!” Tony’s voice went wheedling now, and he held up the kitten as he pouted and widened his eyes to proper Bambi-like proportion. “It’s just a baby!”

“I know! Because we have five others just like it!”

“Nuh uh, this one has stripes and they don't! And, in my defense, I had no idea Hestia was pregnant.”

Shaking her head, Pepper came closer and kissed his cheek as she rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you insist on naming them after mythological characters.”

“Mythological _deities_ , Pepper, get it right.”

She aimed a swat at him, which Tony ducked with a giggle, dancing out of range while he cuddled the gray-striped kitten to his scarred cheek. “Look at this face! You can’t say no to this face!”

“The cat’s, or yours?” Pepper was chasing him now, albeit not very persistently, just enough to have him dodging around the furniture like a kid.

“Both! Either!”

“Dad, is that _another_ cat?” Morgan came down the stairs, shaking her head. “No wonder Mom looks like she’s gonna kill you.”

“Only a little,” Tony replied as he rounded the stairs to evade his wife. “ _La petite mort_ , if you will.”

“That is so not in your future if you keep bringing cats home, Mr. Stark.” Pepper was obviously trying to hold on to her irritation, but it just as obviously wasn’t working, and she was smiling far more than she was looking stern as she kept chasing her cat-loving husband.

“It’s not my fault! They follow me home against my will!”

“You liar, you had that one in your pocket!”

Running past the stairs again, Tony foisted the kitten off on Morgan. “Keep it secret! Keep it safe!”

The eight-year-old rolled her eyes as she tucked the kitten (who was meowing in a disgruntled fashion at all this rowdiness) against her chest, and waited for both her parents to exit the room before heading for the back door.

“Might as well introduce you to the others,” she said conversationally to the kitten, petting behind its soft ears. “Those two weirdos won’t be done anytime soon. Adults are crazy.”

* * *

Morgan had just finished introducing the new kitten to mama cat Hestia and her kittens Aphrodite, Nike, Apollo, Zeus, and Athena, and the maybe-twins Isis and Osiris, cranky Vishnu, and super-cuddly Pangu when her parents reappeared. Pepper still looked like they weren’t through discussing Tony’s cat collection, and Tony didn’t look deterred at all as he ran a hand through his slightly disheveled, silvering hair.

He plopped down on the grass next to his daughter and immediately started playing with a couple of the kittens that came his way. “How’s it going, Morguna? Does our new little scamp like the family?”

“Vishnu doesn’t like him, and he doesn’t like Isis, but he’ll learn.”

“Vishnu doesn’t like anybody, except Mom. You sure the new baby is a he?”

“Nope.”

“Alright then.” Tony held up the new kitten, making kissy noises and touching its nose to his while Pangu butted up under his arm for attention. “So what should we name this one? Dionysus? Hera? Hades? Andromeda?”

Morgan shook her head as three kittens of varying colors and ages crawled all over her. “It looks more like Isis and Osiris, they've got stripes. I think we should call him Hatshepsut.”

“Gesundheit.”

“Daddy!”

While Tony snickered at her tone of offense, Morgan reached out and poked his side.

“Hey, that’s my retirement pudge, be nice to it!” Tony batted her hand away, flipping a lock of hair into her face while she giggled. “I worked hard to earn that.”

With Vishnu in her arms, Pepper sat down next to Tony on the grass, cuddling into his side with a smile. “It’s true, I was there. Do I have to give you a lecture again about not letting all the cats into the garage at the same time again, or did you learn your lesson last time?”

Tony shuddered at the memory. “No, I very thoroughly learned my lesson. Never again. I still haven’t figured out how they managed to scratch the paint on the armor, and the bots keep getting cat hair stuck in their wheels. I have swept and vacuumed at least fifteen times and I still feel like I’m walking on kitty litter.” Kissing her forehead, he handed Pepper a couple kittens. “Here, you know you wanna. Give them some of those good Peppermint kisses I like so much.”

With a touch of exaggeration, Pepper kissed each kitten’s head then set them in her lap. Vishnu hissed (more of a token protest than anything) and ambled off to go be grumpy elsewhere as the kittens curled up in Pepper’s lap. She had something of a magic touch with the cats, they always seemed to calm right down when she held them. And sure enough, Apollo and Nike settled instantly, cuddled next to each other and already dropping off to sleep.

“How do you do that?” Tony murmured, trying to get possibly-Hatshepsut’s tiny claws out of his sweater while Osiris climbed his back and Pangu draped himself over his shoulder. Morgan was equally busy trying to keep Aphrodite and Athena from eating her hair while Hestia determinedly attempted to groom Isis, who wasn't having any of that. 

Pepper scooped Isis into her arms with a sigh before a fight broke out. “Same way I do it with you, honey. I exude chill.”

“OH MY GOSH, YOU HAVE BEEN TALKING TO THE SCIENCE SONS TOO MUCH!” Tony shouted, falling over in a fit of laughter as cats scattered in alarm. “ _You exude chill_ , I can’t believe you just said that! Morgan, text your adopted brothers and tell them what just happened.”

With another one of those expressions that meant she was trying to be annoyed but just couldn’t manage it, Pepper reached out and gave her husband’s “retirement pudge” a healthy pinch. As he shrieked and Morgan laughed and pointed, Pepper smiled a Mona Lisa smile and added Hatshepsut to the pile of kittens in her lap.

She loved her disaster husband. Cats and all.


End file.
